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Working from Home and Home Fitness Become One

Is COVID-19 a Fitness Killer?

Over the past year and at the start of the new year, we’ve firsthand, to a greater or lesser extent, just how important health can be for large segments of our society and for each and every one of us. We certainly couldn’t have imagined the effects and restrictions of a pandemic in so many areas of our own lives before this.

Including the impact on our own fitness and health. Due to a wide variety of quarantine measures, we feel restricted in terms of our health and, consequently, our freedom, and we haven’t just been thinking since the start of the year about how positive it would be tobe able to do more for our own health.

The Fitness Studio Market Remains Challenging

Gym fitness is an approach to commercializing a portion of one’s free time. But fitness feels like so much more than that. It’s a sense of well-being on a physical level and, in the broadest sense, on a mental level as well. Being fit means being capable and resilient in the face of stress in everyday life. And who wouldn’t want that for themselves?

But what can be done? Who can help?

The fitness market, which has been growing for nearly 40 years, has taken a hit. Currently, the original hubs of the fitness movement—our gyms—where just under 10 million people are still more or less active, have been closed for quite some time and for an indefinite period, or are subject to restrictions and limitations on use.

You don’t have to be a prophet to predict that outdoor training will see a huge surge in popularity this year. Anyone who currently wants to take their fitness—and thus their health—into their own hands is inevitably turning to workout videos or inspiration online, downloading fitness apps to their smartphones, ordering home fitness equipment, and using activity trackers and smartwatches designed to manage and safeguard their fitness and health.

Digitalization Is Taking the Fitness World by Storm

every smartphone owner has gained access to all kinds of content, countless pieces of information can be consumed at no cost.

In addition to motivation and the satisfaction of constantly receiving new, seemingly relevant content quality and sustainability play no major role.

Under #fitspo (short for fitness inspiration), you’ll find over 73,000,000 posts that aim to encourage a fitter lifestyle, but in most cases, they don’t.

Working from home is driving home fitness

Previously, there was still a clear distinction between working life and private life, reflected in the concept of work-life balance. However, due to the pandemic, this separation has become increasingly blurred. Working from home is being described as the new normal, while the megatrend of New Work, with new structures and cultures in professional life, is now omnipresent.

Since the largest group of employees over the next two decades will be digital natives, for whom digitalisation and 24/7 access to everything and everyone are not only a reality but also a source of fulfilment and something taken for granted, fitness activities at home, or as a way to balance working from home, will undoubtedly become more digital than we may currently imagine.

This also creates a new challenge for employers:

How can I fulfil my responsibilities as an employer regarding duty of care, health protection and prevention when my employees are increasingly working from home? The answer, and therefore the solution, will certainly be digital.

Smart solutions are in demand—for providers and users alike

There’s no doubt that the pandemic triggered a surge in digitalization— suddenly, so many things became possible that people had previously resisted . Working from home, the elimination of mandatory in-person attendance, the end of business travel, and much more have transformed our working world.

digital cultural shift has hit Germany with full force. Only the professional fitness sector—which could contribute the most to health with its expertise—is still struggling to make its business model more modern and digital.

Benefits for Everyone: Users, Providers, Employers

Because the risk of lifestyle-related diseases will continue to increase due to a lack of effective home fitness solutions are also essential and urgently needed by fitness market.

Perform Better Europe will provide you with high-quality training support for our home fitness products in the form of online coaching, presentations, and digital courses, which employers can book.

Peloton is currently demonstrating what’s possible with an indoor bike and digital streaming support in the comfort of your own home.

Our digital fitness tip:

Starting April 6, Perform Better Digital is offering a new online outdoor training program.

True to the motto #laufendgesund—Your path to peak performance to reach your fitness goals!

You can try this program for 4 weeks free of charge!

Every Tuesday from 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM, live and on demand.

Learn more

You can join at any time!

For coaches offering online courses, the platform coach.perform-digital.de is also available for a 4-week free trial.